Potential applications for the technology include health and fitness, cosmetics and skin care, ophthalmology and eye care, and biometric security.

“We believe there will be huge demand for MRO sensors in fast-growing markets such as fingerprint device authentication and mobile health monitoring,” said Compact Imaging CEO Don Bogue.

The company said it has already demonstrated technical feasibility of MRO in human subject tests.

The collaboration was announced Tuesday at Science Foundation Ireland’s St. Patrick’s Day conference in Washington by Irish Prime Minister Enda Kenny, who said, “This development is another example of how collaborations between the two countries can lead to the development of breakthrough technologies and the growth of exciting new startup ventures that have the potential to deliver societal and economic benefits.”

A new, four-year R&D partnership between IPIC and the multinational medical technology company Stryker was also announced at the event.

More than 80 percent of Compact Imaging’s capital is from Irish investors, and the company has a long-standing research collaboration with the Tissue Optics and Microcirculation Imaging Labs (TOMI) under the leadership of professor Dr. Martin Leahy at the National University of Ireland Galway.

Compact Imaging has 14 U.S. patents and an even greater number of pending U.S. and foreign applications in MRO and OCT-based imaging and biometry.

IPIC — funded by Science Foundation Ireland and based at Ireland’s Tyndall National Institute — brings together more than 100 researchers from four institutes and works with 18 industry partners to develop miniaturized photonics devices for the information and communications technology, medical devices and diagnostics sectors.